Spoken word artists are naturally a loquacious bunch, so it's only natural that more than a few are sharing their experiences at the reported the scores from his bout at the Brink Lounge, in which the squad from central Massachusetts finished second to Chicago Mental Graffiti and ahead of Boston Lizard Lounge and Accident Slam from Eureka, California. The poet also provides the score and comments on the winning effort put in by Boston Cantab at the same location earlier in the evening. "New England had a very good night tonight," he declares, "and I hope it will continue for the rest of the week."
Phil Ejercito shot a photo gallery of this bout for Dane101. He also captured another set featuring the bout between France Poetry Slam from Paris, the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham, Green Mill in Chicago, and Toronto Poetry Slam at MMoCA, along with a third gallery from the post-competition Hip Hop Headquarters late night event at Café Montmartre.
Other poets blogging about their Tuesday night experiences were those whose teams finished with the highest score in the bout, their comments emphasizing their anticipation and excitement for getting a step up at the outset of the slam.
Andrew Ek of the Lincoln, Nebraska team, known as the NoCoast Writers Collective, noted its winning performance over Mesa Sacramento, and Columbus BP on the Drury Stage at the Bartell Theatre, and also commented on the winning performance by NYC Louder Arts that followed at the downtown theater later in the evening. "At this point, if I take in any more words," he concluded by the end of the night, "my brain will explode and I will never be able to speak again."
Similarly, a member of the winning San Diego team wrote a detailed report on its victory at the Comedy Club on State Street. "The night was worthy of celebration and the team hooked up with the Hollywood Slam team, who placed second in their bout against NY-Urbana," he noted. "It's been a good trip so far and last night made it even better. It was good for both teams to taste success in their first round bouts. Things are looking good for Southern California Poetry in Madison."
An Austin Poetry Slam competitor commented
Finally, Amena Brown announced the Atlanta's team win at MMoCA. "Detroit gave us a run for our money, they came in second to us by only tenths of a point, following by Philadelphia, and Cincinnati," she explained. "We went and had celebratory pizza and most of all a sista enjoyed some celebratory sleep." A photo gallery of this bout was shot by Steve Furay for Dane101, and includes a shot of Brown performing alongside her teammate Gypsee Yo.
Brown concluded with her thoughts the dynamics of the competition, and what the first night meant to the Atlanta team: "Slam nationals is like a relay race where you play your part and hand off the baton to someone on your team to make sure the job gets done and that it gets done right. Winning this first bout was like the first leg of the race for us, but of course the ultimate goal is to win the whole shebang."
